Netflix prices to go up for new subscribers

NEW YORK, April 21 (UPI) -- New Netflix subscribers will have to pay a little bit more to watch shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.

The streaming-video service said Monday that current customers would continue to pay $7.99 per month for unlimited viewing for the next year or two. But new customers will soon have to pay one or two more dollars per month for their subscriptions.

“If we want to continue to expand to do more great original content, more series, more movies, we have to eventually increase prices a little bit,” CEO Reed Hastings said an a call with analysts. “You’re talking about a dollar or two difference per month, so I don’t think that it’s a huge difference.”

Netflix made the change after stronger-than-expected growth in the first financial quarter.

"If we want to continue to expand, to do more great original content... we have to eventually increase prices a little bit," Hastings said.

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